Nows the time to challenge myself

With just over a week to go to the third and last marathon in my three marathons in three months I am very much thinking about what I have learnt from the experience and what I can get out of this last marathon.

The aim had be to go under 4 hours in at least one of the races, an aim I now realise looking back was a tall order as only one of the events was suitable for a quick time as the other two routes were off road, undulating and hilly.

I have still achieved a decent new PB though knocking over 15 minutes of my previous best.

As I have said before the more I train for marathons and the more I run them the more I understand the challenge that is a marathon.

Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it's all about. 

PattiSue Plummer, U.S. Olympian

I realise more an more that I need to push myself harder and not be constrained my own preconceived limitations in terms of how much I can train or how fast I can run.

I know with some decent training and with an event where things work out OK I am capable of running a sub 4 hour marathon but more than that I know I am capable of running much faster than simply trying to just dip under the 4 hour mark.

With this in mind I have decided to run my last marathon blind/naked/watch free.

I am just going to run it as hard as I can without monitoring my progress on any watch or tracking device and just see where that takes me.

Marathon running is all about the challenge of the 26.2, how to train for it? Can you run it all? Will you finish it? Pushing yourself through the pain.

For me I know From experience what the training requires, I know I can cover the distance, I know I can complete it in a decent time and I know I will be OK afterwards.

So now it is time to just worry about running it as best I can with a freedom to allow me to achieve my real potential.

One of my best ever running experiences

This morning I headed out for a little run before work, I just wanted a gentle few kms as this is my first run post marathon. 

I toyed with the idea of getting involved with run2work and running part of my commute but decided against it as I just wanted something short and gentle. 

I headed out from my gym in central London and decided against my usual kind of route along the river.

Instead I headed towards Trafalgar Square, it was nice to experience one of London busiest tourist attractions in the stillness and quietness of 7.30 in the morning.

I then struck upon the idea of heading towards Buckingham Palace as I often forget to realise how close and accessible to Central London it is.

Running along the mall with the queens residence in my sights I realised I was of course running along the world famous finishing straight of the London Marathon, poignant as only yesterday I received my London Marathon rejection magazine.

The highlight of my run and one of my best running experiences occurred on the return journey. 

After a quick pic of her majesty's pad, with the fear of trying not to look suspicious like I might be a terror crazed jihadist in these security conscious times, I headed back along the Mall adjacent to St James Park.

All of a sudden the chimes of Big Ben rang out, it was one of those movie moments where the traffic seemed to quieten and time stood still for a few seconds. It just gave me a moment to reflect on how lucky I am to be a runner and how lucky I am to experience these kind of moments in World famous areas that I am fortunate enough to have on my doorstep.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this little snippet of my running experiences.